October 21, 2004

On Fox News just now, there was some discussion of the supposed problem of excessively sexy broadcast TV, most notably the big hit show "Desperate Housewives." At the very end of the segment the talking head bemoaned the decision not to air "Miss America": what a sad loss of a family-friendly, cleanly show. Remember when "Miss America" was a big target for feminists? It was scarcely considered a positive image of women then. And now, after all those protests--including the one with actual bra-burning--that never got the show off the air, the show is gone for the simple reason that people weren't interested in watching it anymore. Apparently boredom is a stronger force than anger.

UPDATE: Sorry to repeat the bra-burning factoid. I do know better. There was a plan to burn bras at the 1968 protest, but, lacking a fire permit, the protesters merely threw bras in a trashcan. You can read the accurate story of the protest at this website. Also at that website is the historical text "No more Miss America!" which includes some rich prose, such as:

We protest … Miss America as Military Death Mascot. The highlight of her reign each year is a cheerleader-tour of American troops abroad--last year she went to Vietnam to pep-talk our husbands, fathers, sons and boyfriends into dying and killing with a better spirit. She personifies the "unstained patriotic American womanhood our boys are fighting for." The Living Bra and the Dead Soldier. We refuse to be used as Mascots for Murder.

Yikes! That is what 1968 was like, folks.

MORE: "Living Bra" was a Playtex brand name for an ordinary bra, which you can see if you scroll down on this vintage lingerie page.